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When APJ Abdul Kalam charmed his way into Boeing’s nerve centre…

August 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Nostalgia: APJ Abdul Kalam with Dinesh Keskar during his 2009 visit to Boeing’s Seattle plant – PICTURE COURTESY: BOEING

The sudden demise of former President APJ Abdul Kalam on July 27, left people mourning in India. Over 12,000km away in Seattle too, a pall of gloom descend on Boeing’s manufacturing plant, where the former President had charmed and impressed the employees during his visit in 2009. Later Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice-President, Asia-Pacific and India, Boeing Aeroplanes called Kalam “a friend of a lot of people, including Boeing.”

During the 2009 visit, the former President had shown an interest in meeting Joe Sutter, the man who designed the double-decker aircraft, the Boeing 747, which is popularly known as the Jumbo Jet. “The former President knew of him (Sutter) and wanted to meet him,” recalls Keskar.

The 2009 visit to the Seattle plant was Kalam’s first to the Boeing’s manufacturing facility. The 88-year-old Sutter, often called the Father of the 747, was there. The two had a 20-minute meeting which Keskar too attended. “The former President wondered how Sutter had come up with the idea of the upper deck. Kalam also asked Sutter about the support he had in designing the Boeing 747,” Keskar recalled. Perhaps Kalam, who was involved with the Light Combat Aircraft project, was hoping to replicate the same in India. The Missile Man also gave a lecture to an audience that included scientists and top technologists during the Seattle visit. Kalam, however, was not just interested in the Jumbo Jet. During his visit he also got a first-hand feel of the first Boeing 787 aircraft, the long-range, wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner . The 787 aircraft that Kalam saw in Seattle was the first of the 27 aircraft that are joining the Air India fleet.

Kalam was impressed with the aircraft, particularly its wings. The crystal model of an aeroplane that Boeing presented Kalam to commemorate the visit is still displayed in Delhi.

Bengaluru days

Kalam’s relationship with Boeing did not end at Seattle. He also visited the Boeing research centre in Bengaluru. Keskar says that the former President spent over three hours talking to the 15 people present, inquiring about their work. Many of the people were picked from the National Aeronautics Lab, where Kalam was the Chairman of the organisation’s research council.

It was during this visit that Kalam said that one of the things Boeing must do is to get India into the aeroplane market. “He was obviously very interested in getting Boeing to do something in India in terms of building an aeroplane in India. We are still working on smaller pieces of that. We have not gone to the stage of the aeroplane but that was his vision,” Keskar added.

Source…ASHWINI PHADNIS ….www.thehindubusinessline.com

Natarajan

What flight attendants want you to stop doing….

August 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The galley isn’t for yoga. Picture: PassengerShaming.com Source: Facebook

SURE, it’s uncomfortable being jammed into an airline seat the width of a pizza box (if you’re lucky) for hours on end, listening to the shriek of babies and engaging in elbow wars with your seat-mate while you try to shove down food that tastes like feet.

But that’s the reality of flying these days, you didn’t score that $199 flight without making some sacrifices.

So just remember that for you it’s a temporary descent into hell. But for the flight attendants helping you out, it’s their everyday reality.

Perhaps you wonder how to make their job a bit less painful? Here’s a list of the things that flight attendants really wish passengers would stop doing.

• Leaving rubbish in the pocket on the back of the seat

“We walk up and down the aisle throughout the flight with a trash bag to collect trash.” — Abbie Unger, flight attendant, author and founder of the Flight Attendant Career Connection.

Nappies, socks and rubbish. Picture: PassengerShaming.com Source: Facebook

• Taking ages to decide what you want to drink. And having bad timing

“You’ve seen me walking down the aisle with the drink cart for 20 minutes already.” — Facebook user Corinne Spring from the Flight Attendant Career Connection.

• “There is nothing more irritating than when a passenger comes straight onto the plane and asks for a soft drink. I’m like, ‘Seriously?’” — Nick Stracener, a flight attendant with American.

• Being a space hog

“My head literally just exploded. #TheSenseofEntitlement.” — Shawn Kathleen, who runs the blog PassengerShaming said of the below photo showing items such as heels and a hat taking up precious overhead space.

Got enough room? Picture: PassengerShaming.com Source: Facebook

• Poking or grabbing me

“Please don’t touch, poke, or tug on a flight attendant. You could say ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir’. You can say ‘miss,’ ‘excuse me,’ ‘pardon me’ — or just wait until I make eye contact with you. But please don’t touch my rear end again!” — Abbie Unger.

• Blocking the aisle

“Attention all passengers: Stop. Doing. This.” — Shawn Kathleen said of the photo below showing passengers sharing earphones across the aisle.

Please be considerate. Picture: PassengerShaming.com Source: Facebook

• Making yourself at home, including clipping your nails and walking to the bathroom barefoot

“It’s just so gross. And people in first class are even worse — they think it’s their house.” — Nick Stracener.

“We are always reminding people to put their shoes on because the wetness on the floor is not water.” — Sydney Pearl, author and creator of the website Diary of a Pissed Off Flight Attendant.

Eww. Picture: PassengerShaming.com Source: Facebook

• Using the toilet when the plane is about to land — or meals are being served

“My main pet peeve is when people get on the plane and immediately go to the bathroom all the way in the back.” — an anonymous flight attendant told theNYPost.

• Hanging out in or near the galley

“I came out of the galley and she scared the crap out of me!!” — Shawn Kathleen said on spotting the woman in the photo below in such a strange place, and position.

What’s she doing there? Picture: PassengerShaming.com Source: Facebook

Source….www.news.com.au

Natarajan

‘I get to see my wife only twice or thrice a year’….Meet TapeshwarRam of Kolkata….

August 25, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

In a special series, Rediff.com looks at India through the lives of her people.

Today: Tapeshwar Ram, who has hand-pulled a rickshaw on the streets of Kolkata for 30 years. He works 7 days a week and plans to call it a day soon — and that’s when he plans to take his wife for her first-ever holiday.

IMAGE: Tapeshwar Ram arrived in Kolkata 30 years ago with Rs 8,000. He bought his first rickshaw, a second hand one, for Rs 12,000. Photograph: Abhiroop Dey Sarkar

I landed in this city on a hot summer day with Rs 8,000 and a heart full of dreams.

My uncle’s friend took me to a local dealer of rickshaws and I chose a second hand rickshaw for Rs 12,000.

While I paid Rs 8,000 at once, the rest of the money I paid in installments from my earnings.

After a few years, I bought a new rickshaw for Rs 18,000.

I found it really tough to ply a rickshaw.

It hurt a lot.

After ferrying people on the streets of Kolkata throughout the day, my hands and ribs pained so much that I couldn’t sleep at night.

With time, I got used to the hardship. I could comfortably carry two adults and walk as much as 10 to 15 km a day non-stop.

Now that age is catching up with me, I have been forced to cut down on the speed and number of daily trips.

Earlier, my day started at 5 am and ended at 11 pm. Now, I park my rickshaw by 9 pm.

To cut down on my daily expenses, I take two meals a day.

I set out in the morning after having a jug of sattu sharbat (a drink made of gram powder). It’s easy to digest and keeps me full for long.

I carry with me a packet of muri (puffed rice) and water for occasional breaks in the afternoon.

In the evening, I make three rotis and vegetables for dinner.

I work seven days a week unless I am sick.

IMAGE: He works seven days a week unless he is sick and eats only two meals a day to cut his daily expenses. Photograph Abhiroop Dey Sarkar

On days when I don’t feel like working I take a bus to Howrah station and sit by the Hooghly for hours.

I stay in a garage with five other rickshaw-puller friends in a multi-storied building.

We share a rent of Rs 3,000 a month among ourselves.

Having worked as a rickshaw-puller for so many years, I have developed arthritis and hypertension.

I have seen a doctor who advised against working more than 12 hours a day.

I wish I could listen to him.

I still need to earn a substantial amount of money as I plan to return to my native village in Jharkhand.
I hear that babus in Kolkata and other cities retire at the age of 60. I am 58 now.

Till then, I would have to ply my rickshaw around the streets of Kolkata and build my savings.

With my hard-earned money, I have married two of my daughters and helped two of my elder sons finish their graduation.

I still send a large part of my income to my youngest son who is doing his graduation.

My elder sons have started working in local factories and contribute to the family’s expenses.

My wife takes care of my village home. We have stayed apart for years and get to see each other only twice or thrice a year.

I go home during Holi and in the winter.

For the last few years, I have been going home in the summer because business is lean at that time.

IMAGE: The government plans to replace hand-drawn rickshaws with battery operated ones. Photograph: Abhiroop Dey Sarkar

When I started my journey on the streets of Kolkata in the 1980s, I used to earn Rs 5,000, Rs 6,000 a month. It gradually went up to as much as Rs 12,000 a month especially during the monsoon and festivals.

I also started having some regular contracts with local factories and godowns who hired my rickshaw regularly for 10, 12 days a month.

At present, I earn Rs 8,000, Rs 9,000 a month on an average.

On a busy day, I get as many as 50 passengers whereas when luck is not on my side, the number can come down to 10.

In the summer months when business isn’t good, I take up part time jobs in factories, godowns and at cold storages to make up for the loss.

Earlier, it was easy to get these jobs, but now with factories and workshops closing down, such odd jobs are hard to come by.

But if summer threatens joblessness, monsoon clouds bring much joy.

Hand-pulled rickshaws are in great demand among the residents of central and north Kolkata where water-logging is a regular menace.

From July-August till Durga Puja, business gets brisk and I manage to earn Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000 extra per month this time of the year, thanks to the shopaholics.

There is no limit to the number of people that I ferry during these months.

My customers typically consist of two types — the kind and the unkind.

The former are generous enough to pay a tip of Rs 50 to Rs 100 while the latter prefer to haggle to the last breath.

On one occasion, I was so irritated with a woman (she was bargaining for more than 30 minutes) that I returned the entire fare with a rude parting note, “I don’t take money from beggars.”

But then there are good people as well.

There is a doctor, a regular customer whom I take to the fish market every Sunday — he not only gives me Rs 100 as tip per trip, but also gets free medicines for me and my family back home.

MAGE: Among their regular passengers are elderly women going for their weekly visits to the temple. Photograph: Abhiroop Dey Sarkar

With the West Bengal government keen on replacing hand-pulled rickshaws with battery operated ones (popularly known as e-rickshaws), I hear that factories have stopped manufacturing our kind of rickshaws.

I will never opt for these e-rickshwas.

I hear that each e-rickshaw costs about Rs 100,000. At this age, I don’t want to invest such a huge amount.

Moreover, I have spent more than three decades pulling a rickshaw. Now, it’s time for me to get some rest.

After retirement, I want to take my wife on a vacation to Delhi. She has never gone out of her home and deserves a grand holiday.

I like listening to FM radio.

Therefore, when my fellow rickshaw-pullers get anxious about the government’s plan to phase out hand-pulled rickshaws, I stay unperturbed.

The old has to step aside making room for the new.

Though I do feel hand-pulled rickshaws accentuate the true heritage of old Kolkata, it has been tough for us in recent years with so many cars in this city.

We find it dangerous ferrying people amid heavy traffic.

Though modern people think hand-pulled rickshaws have lost their utility, we are in great demand during emergencies at night.

Ambulances and other vehicles are hardly available at night, especially in my part of the city, and if anyone falls sick, people call us for trips to the nearby hospital.

IMAGE: There was a time Mr Ram could pull a rickshaw for 10, 15 kms non-stop, not any more. He wants to retire and return to his village in Jharkhand. Photograph: Abhiroop Dey Sarkar

Our rickshaws are still in great demand among elderly women in north Kolkata who refuse to choose any other mode of transport for their weekly trips to the mandir (temple).

These women trust us a lot and once the puja gets over, tip as well and share the prasad.

I was listening to the radio news the other day.

I was dismayed to know that India scores pretty low on the global happiness index.

I have not studied much and don’t have a proper understanding of the Constitution.

But I do know that it Is the onus of any government to keep its people happy.

And on that count, India has failed miserably.

The West Bengal government wants to replace hand pulled rickshaws with e-rickshaws that would be more humane for the drivers.

Indrani Roy/Rediff.com met Mr Tapeshwar Ram on a rainy afternoon in kolkata

Source….www.rediff.com

Natarajan

NASA Scientist Turns Mars Rover Selfie Into Art….

August 24, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

A ‘selfie’ taken by NASA’s Curiosity Rover has become such a hit that it inspired one of the scientists on the team that created the camera taking the selfie to turn into an artwork.

NASA shared the picture on its Facebook page. It’s titled Le Petit Rover – a reference to French writer-aviator’s book Le Petit Prince or The Little Prince, a book about a planet-hopping ‘prince’ who falls to Earth from an asteroid.

Photo Credit: Facebook/NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover

The original image is a low-angle self-portrait of the Mars Rover, which shows the vehicle above the “Buckskin” rock target in the “Marias Pass” area of lower Mount Sharp.

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The artwork inspired by the original selfie has almost 3,000 likes so far.

Source….www.ndtv.com

Natarajan

Ahmedabad no Rickshawalo – Personifying “Love All, Serve All”….Meet Uday Bhai…

August 24, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

On a hot Amdavadi afternoon, when the roads were as deserted as they could be, the Sabarmati Ashram was buzzing with visitors. There were school kids, a group of old ladies and some foreigners taking a stroll around the ashram, mainly in the museum – “Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalay”. While I was roaming around, my phone rang – “Hello” – “Hello, I am standing opposite to the Ashram” – “Will be there in 5 minutes”. Just as I reached the ashram exit, I had a look at the opposite end of the road. An atypical Amdavadi auto-driver, with a Gandhi Topi, waved his hand – I wondered how he recognized me, meeting for the first time. –

Ahmedabad No Richshawalo – Udaybhai

Udaybhai, as everyone calls him, came to me and took me and my mother (who was accompanying me, which made me a little nervous as she was witnessing my work for the first time) for a ride till Safaai Vidyalaya (a very low profile unexplored place right next to the Sabarmati Ashram). While we sat in the unique auto, Udaybhai took out two badges having a smiley and pinned one of them to my t-shirt. It was only a moment of time before he started describing his rickshaw. The energy, excitement and brightness in his eyes were very evident as he ran me through the unique features of his rickshaw.

It had facilities that are not even found in cabs. While there were newspapers, magazines and other literature to read, it also had two containers on the left and right hand side of the back saying “love” and “truth” holding snacks and water bottles for the passengers. There was also a dust bin so that the riders do not spill thrash on to the streets. However, the most unique part of the auto is that the meter always reads ZERO.

Udaybhai started “Ahmedabad no Rickshawalo” on 21st October 2010, the auspicious day of Dushhera, with the concept of gift-economy in mind. The idea behind gift-economy is that someone before you has paid for your travel; now you have to pay-it-forward for the subsequent passengers. Udaybhai, after every trip, provides the passenger with a self-written greeting card-cum-envelope in which the passenger will place the amount of his/her choice. The concept is pretty much similar to the Seva Café at CG Road. Inspired by the work of Manav Sadhna – an NGO based in the Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad, dedicated to the upliftment of the underprivileged, especially children, through love – and proximity to Padmashri Ishwarbhai Patel, the seed for the initiative was sown in the brain of Udaybhai.

The card in an envelope that asks the customer to “Pay From Ur Heart” –

Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, with a family of 10 – parents, 3 kids, wife, brother, sister and her son, Udaybhai comes from a very middle class family with a load of responsibilities. It takes a lot of guts to jump into something like this for a person with this kind of a family background. But his conviction on his beliefs, determination to add love to his work and some pleasant experiences when customers hear about his idea, drives him to continue with the concept.

Quoting one of the pleasant and memorable experiences, Udaybhai said: “Once, while I was coming back after dropping one of the passengers, I saw a blind man trying to cross the road. But he wasn’t able to do so due to heavy traffic. So I went to him and asked to hop onto the auto. He denied initially but agreed later. After taking him to the other side of the street, I asked him where he wants to go. He said, “No thanks, I would reach by my own”. He was probably hesitant to say since he thought that I would charge him. He would have never thought that he will meet somebody like this. After insisting a couple of times, he told that he wanted to reach Hirpur to his blind mens’ hostel. Once he sat, he told his entire life story to me and I shared mine to him. While talking about all this, we reached his hostel. His hostel’s warden came out running and worried since it was unusual for the hostel students to come down in a private auto till the hostel gates. However, he was pleasantly surprised once he came to know about the concept and invited me inside for a cup of tea.”

These are the kind of experiences that keep the spirits alive for such noble causes in spite of all the financial hiccups. Of course, there are bitter experiences as well but nothing compared to the pleasant ones. In future, Udaybhai intends to expand this drive and have many more such rickshaws. As what he believes, at the end of the day, it is the absolute peace of mind and not money that will bring him a good night sleep.

Besides running his auto, Udaybhai provides his services to Seva Café – a volunteer run restaurant where someone before you pays for your meal, your bill is zero, and you pay forward for those after you. He is also an active member of other activities of Manav Sadhna.

To know more about the work of Manav Sadhna and the concept of “Radical Generosity” visit http://www.manavsadhna.org and MovedByLove. –

source….Jay Mehta….www.thebetterindia.com

Natarajan

Watch How a Super Adorable Baby Elephant Was Rescued from a Dry Pit ….

August 24, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

A baby elephant fell in a deep dry well in Andhra Pradesh. It tried its best to come out, but all in vain. Finally, the rescue team came on the spot and helped the elephant escape. Watch the cute footage here.

Baby elephants are super cute. Period. Sadly, one such adorable elephant fell into a dry well in Ramakuppam in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district on Sunday, Aug 23.

The helpless animal struggled a lot to come out of the pit, but it was too deep. Hundreds of onlookers gathered around to have a look. After a point it seemed completely impossible for the little fella to make its way up. Thankfully, people from the forest department finally reached the site and helped it out.

With a huge tractor, they made a path for the animal to climb. After struggling for a bit, it finally started climbing as the relieved onlookers cheered. –

Have a look at the video here:

Source….www.thebetterindia.com and http://www.youtube.com

Natarajan

Inventing Emoticons….

August 24, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Inventing Emoticons

“Emoticons,” short for “emotive Icons,” (emotive meaning “appealing to or expression emotion” hence “icons that express emotions”) have been around in vertical form for some time. However, sideways emoticons seem to be a surprisingly recent invention, going back just about three decades.

“B4″ the days of LOL and apps to aid parents in understanding their teenager’s “textspeak”, a man named Scott E. Fahlman wanted his colleagues and students to understand the difference between a sarcastic joke and a nasty barb when typed.

Fahlman was part of a group of scientists and students at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) who frequently communicated via an early online newsgroup to discuss a wide variety of topics. In these groups, if someone failed to understand that some sentiment was meant to be sarcastic or a joke, they would “post a lengthy diatribe in response,” explains Fahlman, “that would stir up more people with more responses, and soon the original thread of the discussion was buried. In at least one case, a humorous remark was interpreted by someone as a serious safety warning.”

So Fahlman came up with a sideways smiley and posted it on the newsgroup in September of 1982. The following is a copy of the original post.

“19-Sep-1982 11:44 Scott E Fahlman 🙂
From: Scott E Fahlman
I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: 🙂

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(“

Fahlman thus became the first known person to use the 🙂 and 😦 emoticons. (Although, many have since claimed that they used it before him, without having any documented evidence to support their claims.) Of course, Fahlman himself thinks it highly probable that other people were using these particular notations before him, being a very simple idea.

Regardless if they did, it was Fahlman’s post that popularized and spurred on the creation of new emoticons. The idea caught on quickly at CMU and it soon spread to dozens of other universities, research labs, and computer networks. Some people even made a hobby out of compiling all sorts of smileys expressing various sentiments.

Fahlman didn’t archive the original thread, since he had no way of knowing it would ever prove to be of interest to anybody, let alone help change the way people communicate digitally.
So how do we know about it today? In 2001, Mike Jones of Microsoft sponsored a serious dig into the thread archives stored on old backup tapes to see if someone could find the origin post by Fahlman. Jeff Baird, Howard Wactlar, Bob Cosgrove, and David Livingston at CMU managed to not only find the tape backups, but also to find a machine capable of reading the old tapes and decoding the information on them. The original thread was found on those tapes on September 10, 2002, just nine days before the 20th anniversary of the post.

How has all this affected Fahlman? Well, Fahlman never made a dime off of emoticons, and throughout the birth and growth of the emoticon, he has remained with CMU, primarily working in Artificial Intelligence. “I am trying to create something that will have a greater impact than that stupid thing,” Fahlman says. That’s a tall order. 🙂

Bonus Emoticon Facts:

In an 1881 edition of the publication “Puck”, they suggested the vertical emoticons seen on your right.

Another early instance of a vertical emoticon was suggested in 1912 by Ambrose Bierce: \__/! This vertical emoticon was to indicate a smile with an exclamation point at the end to indicate it was an ironical smile, thus to be used as an alternate punctuation for sentences that were referring to things ironic in nature. While this may seem not very self evident, Fahlman states that a CMU research group was using \_/ to indicate a smile around the time he suggested the sideways smiley, though he wasn’t aware of it when he made his suggestion and it isn’t clear whether that usage came before his.

Yet another earlier emoticon was suggested in the New York Times in 1969 when Vladimir Nabokov was asked “How do you rank yourself among writers (living) and of the immediate past?” He responded, “I often think there should exist a special typographical sign for a smile — some sort of concave mark, a supine round bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your question.”

Abbreviations like “lol” and the like didn’t just come about because of the internet. According to the April, 1857 edition of The National Telegraphic Review Operators Guide, in Morse code, the number 73 was used to succinctly say “love and kisses”. This was later changed to mean “best regards” and “love and kisses” got changed to the number 88. There were numerous other shorthand codes used in Morse code “chatspeak”.

One of Abraham Lincoln’s speeches may have included an emoticon or it may have simply been a typo (read: it almost certainly was a typo). The transcript of the speech was printed in the August 7, 1862 edition of theTimes, where it stated, there is this line “… but it is also true that there is no precedent for your being here yourselves, (applause and laughter 😉 and I offer, in justification of myself and you, that I have found nothing in the Constitution against.”

Harvey Ball got forty five dollars for designing the first yellow smiley face. Ironically, the smiley face was born in unhappy days at the State Mutual Life Assurance Company. The company had purchased the Ohio firm, Guarantee Mutual, and the takeover made working conditions in the company unfriendly and almost hostile. The State Mutual Vice President suggested a “friendship campaign” and hired Ball to design something that would boost morale at the company and asked him to design something “smile” oriented. After Ball’s death in 2001, the LA Times wrote about his work. “Ball started sketching. Fearing that a grumpy employee would turn the smile upside down into a frown, he added the eyes. He settled on yellow for the background because it was a ‘sunshine’ color. The work took about 10 minutes.” The company distributed 100 pieces of this smiley in 1964 and asked employees to smile while they answered phones and dealt with customers. Before long, the yellow smiles were so popular that the company kept on reordering them in batches of 10,000 to fill requests by companies and agents. Soon the yellow smiley face was a popular culture icon.The LA Times reports that “By 1971, more than 50 million smiley face buttons had been sold, and the image was popping up on coffee mugs, stickers, T-shirts and countless other items.” Ball never trademarked or copyrighted the design and made no money on it after the initial $45. Others profited immensely from it, including some in other countries who did manage to acquire the rights to the yellow smiley and sue others who were using it without paying.

Source…www.todayifoundout.com

Natarajan

This is how Kerala celebrates Onam….A Festival Celebrated by All People Irrespective of Caste, Creed and Relegion….

August 24, 2015August 24, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Image: School girls wearing traditional costume share a laugh backstage as they wait to perform during festivities marking the start of the annual harvest festival of “Onam” in the southern Indian city of Chennai
Photographs: Babu/Reuters

You may be surprised to learn that worshipping the Mahabali, making apookalam and having the Onasadhya are just a miniscule part of the elaborate festival. Find out how people from different parts of Kerala celebrate the ten-day festival.

With elaborate feasting and a host of colourful activities and celebrations planned across the state, Onam is undoubtedly the biggest festival of Kerala.

While most Keralites celebrate it as a harvest festival, a famous and popular legend is also that of the erstwhile King Mahabali visiting the people of Kerala on Onam.

When King Mahabali was defeated and sent to paathaal (netherland) by Vamana, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, he’d appealed that he should be allowed to visit his subjects once every year.

It is believed that on Tiruvonam, the tenth day of Onam, Mahabali comes visiting the homes of his praja (people) to find out if they are happy and content.

What makes Onam so unique is the fact that it is the only festival celebrated by people irrespective of caste, creed or religion. That explains why it is considered the national festival of the state.

The ten-day long festival starts on Attam in the Chingam month of the Malayalam calendar.

It continues for the next eight days — Chithram, Chodhi, Vishakam, Anizham, Thriketa, Moolam, Pooradam, Uthradam — and culminates on Thiruvonam, the tenth day.

Some also celebrate Onam on Avittam, the eleventh day.

During Onam, across Kerala, a host of celebrations and activities are organised — some as part of the ritual, some for entertainment.

Since some of the customs and activities are dying a natural death due to ignorance or lack of time, we spoke to some people who were born and brought up in Kerala to tell us how Onam has been celebrated in different provinces over the years.

Image: Young girls pose next to a Pookalam designed by them
Photographs: Sahil Salvi/Rediff.com

Pookalam

An important attraction of Onam is the Pookalam— a carpet of multi-coloured flowers arranged in a decorative pattern.

Throughout the ten days of the festival, young girls and boys would wake up early and get ready to make the Pookalam on the courtyard to welcome King Mahabali and other guests who’d visit them.

Each day features a new pattern.

Ramanunni Nair who belongs to Palakkad district of Kerala remembers his childhood days of making the Pookalam and tells us how fun it used to be:

“When we were young, throughout the ten days of Onam, we used to wake up as early as 3 and 4 am. The girls would get ready, broom the courtyard and spread a layer of wet cow dung on the ground. Meanwhile, the boys would collect flowers of different colours and varieties and bring it home to the girls. Some of us would steal from the neighbouring garden just to ensure that we were on top of the game. It was fun climbing fences and trees to get as many flowers as possible.”

Nair tells us that in the olden days, the flowers were arranged on a wet patch of cow dung which ensured that the arrangement remained intact when the dung dried.

Meanwhile, Keralites who live in the cities and cannot afford to make a Pookalam every day make a small arrangement of flowers outside their apartment or their building.

Today Pookalam competitions are organised across the nation and in some countries abroad as well. The participation is huge and the designs are elaborate and innovative.

Image: A symbolic statue of Mahabali is placed on a banana leaf
Photographs: Divya Nair/Rediff.com

Mahabali Varavelpu

As mentioned earlier, Onam also celebrates the welcoming of King Mahabali (Mahabali Varavelpu) who is said to ascend from paathal to Kerala during these ten days to visit his people and enquire about their well being.

Besides the pookalam, every household also erect a small symbolic idol of Mahabali or Maveli outside the house and offer rice and naivedyam to it.

The idol, also known as Maathevar is made of sand or clay and is painted in kaavi (brick colour).

Some of them also paint eyes and moustache on the statue to make it look attractive.

On the last day of Onam, the idol is immersed in the sea or nearby river and pray to Mahabali to visit their families the following year for Onam.

While worshipping the idol and offering prayers, most of them recite this particular poem:

Maveli nadu vaneedum kalam,
manusharellarum onnupole
amodhathode vasikkum kalam
apathangarkkumottillathanum

It says that: When Maveli ruled our land, everyone was treated equally; they were joyful, merry and free from trouble.

Image: Women from Kerala performing the Kaikottikali
Photographs: Syam Subramanian/Wikimedia Commons

Kaikottikali

Kaikottikali or Thiruvadhirakalli is a traditional dance form performed by women on Onam.

It is usually performed in the afternoon after lunch or in the evening after the traditional lamp is lit.

To perform the dance, women wear the traditional cream coloured cotton saree with zari borders and decorate their hair with mogra flowers.

A kutthu villaku (traditional lamp) is lit in the centre of the courtyard and women form a circle around it and perform the dance facing inwards.

They clap and move around the circle singing onam songs praising the harvest and welcome the good times.

Shashikala Pillai, a 42-year teacher from Shoranur, Kerala who now lives in Mumbai shares some fond memories of kaikottikali with us.

“Each Onam, we would eagerly await the Thiruvathirakalli which was performed in our ancestral home after sunset. Everyone in the family would gather and all the women, including my mother used to perform. Women in the neighbourhood would also join in the dance. Those who did not perform, contributed by singing onapaatu (onam songs) and encouraged the others. As children, we’d eat chips and banana while watching them perform,” she says.

Image: Artists perform Pulikali on the streets
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons

Pulikali

Pulikali meaning ‘tiger dance’ is where a group of dancers dressed as tigers would dance to the tune of the drums and entertain the audience.

Neetu Panicker, an MBA graduate who recently shifted to Bangalore after her marriage remembers watching the Pulikali for the first time in Trissur:

“Pulikali is very famous in Trissur. The dancers wear masks of tiger and leopard and paint themselves in animal prints. When I saw them for the first time, I was very scared. One of them almost pounced on me as if he was attacking a prey. I screamed and closed my eyes. But over time, I got used to it. I would stand by the road outside my house with my father and brother and watch them perform stunts on the streets.”

Image: Kummati artists participate in a procession in Thrissur, Kerala
Photographs: Aruna/Wikimedia Commons

Kummattikali

Very few people from Kerala remember the Kummati, complained a 55-year-old Sashidharan Nair when I asked him about Onam celebrations in Malappuram, a village in Kerala.

Delving the details, Nair tells me that during Onam, Kummattis are specially trained artists dressed in plaited grass that cover their bodies; they also wear fancy masks and garlands.

“Kummatis travel in groups and perform the Kummatikali — a form of dance where they hop and jump in a synchronised pattern to entertain children. Some times they are dressed like characters from Hindu mythology and they enact scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata or share lessons in peace and happiness. They visit our homes and perform the dance in the courtyard. In return we’d gift them clothes or fruits,” he explained.

Nair says the festival of Onam celebrates different ways of sharing happiness.

Image: Vallamkali in Ponnani, Malappuram district of Kerala
Photographs: Riyaz Ahmed/Wikimedia Commons

Vallam Kali

Vallam Kali (vallam means boat), or the sname boat races need no introductions.

In Alapuzha, Cochin and Kottayam districts, men old and young form teams to race against each other in canoes.

The leader of the team gives instructions while the rest of them sit inside the canoe and row it as fast as they can.

They also sing songs and shout slogans to cheer each other.

Kunjikrishnan Pillai who used to regularly visit the boat race in Ashtamudi, Kollam shares one of the famous and most popular vallamkali songs with us:

Kuttanadan punchayile
kochupenne kuyilali
kottu venam, Kuzhal vanam
Kurava venam

It means: When the crops are ripe in Kuttanadu village, a young girl’s voice resembles a songbird; let’s bring on the sound of drums and chorus and join the celebrations.

“Most of these songs become war cries and every year, you will see a new set of songs and slogans. The enthusiasm is very addictive; sometimes there are petty fights while cheering for their respective teams, but eventually they get sorted as people get back to the festive spirit.”

Onathallu

Also known as Kayyamkali in some parts of Kerala, Onathallu (thallu meaning fight/push in Malayalam) is a form of martial arts.

Men wearing cream and red bordered dhotis form teams of two and indulge in a form of wrestling using only the hands for attack and defense.

When the kings ruled Kerala, Onathallu was presented before an audience just to prove how mighty and skilled their war soldiers are.

Today, it is treated as a competition of strength for entertainment purposes only.

Image: Onapottan
Photographs: Nidish K Viswanathan/Wikimedia Commons

Onapottan

In certain parts of Kerala is considered auspicious to spot an Onapottan, Onattar or Oneshwaran onThiruvonam.

Some people believe that the Onapottan is a messenger of the Mahabali

The Onapottan (translated as ‘a crazy character’ in Malayalam) is dressed rather outrageously (as you can seen in the picture above) and roams about the streets of the village sharing folklore.

His face is painted in various colours and he wears a tiered colourful kireedam (crown) on his head.

“Onapottan carries a mani (bell) in one hand and an umbrella made of palm leaves just like Mahabali on the other. When we spot him, we bow to him and give him rice, fruits or something to eat, which he collects in a cloth bag he usually carries. If he throws some of the rice back at you, it is considered that you’re blessed with prosperity. If Onattar is happy, we feel that Mahabali has blessed us,” Nair adds.

Image: Kazhcha Kola
Photographs: Vinayaraj/Wikimedia Commons

Kazhcha Kola

Since the festival celebrates a good harvest, some people display a Kazhcha Kola (a bunch of ripe banana) in front of their house.

This, people say makes Mahabali happy and he blesses them in return.

And finally we have Onasadhya, or the traditional onam feast that includes rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables that is served on a banana leaf with its tapering end placed to the left.

You are supposed to sit on the floor with your legs crossed as the elderly women or men of the house serve the items of the sadhya in a particular order of significance starting with salt,papadam, banana, sharkara upperi (a sweet made from yam), banana chips and different types of pickles. The rice and curries are served at the end.

Sometimes a typical Onasadhya comprises as many as 20 different preparations — a sign of luxury, prosperity and happiness — so much so that it features significantly in Malayalam proverbs such as Onnam unnan bhagyam venam (You have to be lucky to enjoy an onam feast) and Kanam vittum onam unnanam (You have to have the onam feast even if it means having to sell your property/riches).

Source….www.rediff.com

Natarajan

Chess Prodigy Aryan Chopra Becomes an IM at 13…….

August 23, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Aryan Chopra, a 13-year-old chess prodigy from Delhi has become India’s second youngest International Master after the Latvian Open where he secured the sixth position. Here are 8 amazing things you should know about him.

Aryan Chopra, a 13-year-old chess prodigy is making headlines by becoming India’s second youngest International Master (IM).

The first youngest International Master from India was Parimarjan Negi who got this title at the age of 13 years and 4 months in July 2006. The IM title can be achieved once a player gets an Elo rating (a rating system to calculate the relative skill levels of players) between 2200 and 2500. Along with the rating, he/she should also fulfil some norms which are basically performance benchmarks observed during the competitions. Usually three norms need to be fulfilled to get the title of IM.

Apart from these rating and other benchmarks, a player can be awarded the title for a few specific performances as well. For example, the runner up at the World Junior Championship will be awarded the IM title.

Aryan Chopra, the 56 seed player stood at the sixth position with 6.5 points in nine games in the ‘A’ section of the Latvian Open. 191 players from 40 countries had participated in the contest. Aryan currently has an Elo rating of 2402 and he is all set to add 28 Elo points to this now.

Here’s more about this young chess player –

. Hailing from Delhi, Aryan is just 13 years and 10 months old and is a student of DPS R. K. Puram. –

Aryan (left) with his father

Photo: chessbase.com

2. Aryan has added about 250 Elo points to his tally through consistent performance in the last 24 months.

3. His spectacular performances include a draw against former Olympiad team gold winner Vladimir Akopian of Armenia in January 2014, and a win over Indian GM Sahaj Grover in June at Golden Sand, Bulgaria.

4. Aryan got his first International Master Norm at the Sants Open at the age of 11 where 650 players from 42 countries had participated.

Photo: Delhichess.com

5. Though very young, Aryan has been planning his career very smartly and has only played classical time control in Fide rating events, largely abroad.

The time control contests have a set time to finish the game. Current rules as per FIDE allow 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. This way, Aryan can play successive tournaments that suit his strength. This option is not easily available in India.

6. Aryan plays two tournaments and then takes a break of three to four months. Since he has mostly played abroad, not many people in India are aware of this young player.

7. His mother works with Doordarshan while his father is a CA and an astrologer.

8. The young genius holds 10th World Rank in the U-14 Active category.

Source….www.thebetterindia.com

Natarajan

Meet ‘Traffic Ramaswamy’ …80 Years Old…Still Standing Tall and Fighting against Wrong….

August 23, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

One would think this 80-year-old would have hung up his boots a long time ago. Why then is he, instead of reading a newspaper on the porch and playing with his grandchildren, busy keeping the local government, policemen and officials on their toes? Meet K.R. ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy, a social activist who fears none.

“I want to see Chennai as one of the most livable and lovely cities in the country,” says 80-year-old Ramaswamy, with high hopes and a quavering voice. This man, who started his career as a mill worker, is one of the most popular names in Chennai today.

Born on April 1, 1934, Ramaswamy is no less than a hero who continues to fight for what is right in spite of many challenges.

From asking to remove the prefix ‘Amma’ from Jayalalitha’s name to filing over 50 PILs (Public Interest Litigations), Ramaswamy has always stood by what he believes in. He even walked out of his father’s house when he demanded dowry from the bride’s family.

Who is he?

A home guard by profession, his life as an activist started when he unofficially began directing traffic on Chennai’s busy Parry Corner. In appreciation of his dedication and efforts, the police gave him an identity card which earned him the name Traffic Ramaswamy.

“It was difficult. Many family members went against me for my ‘foolish’ acts of public service. But some friends provided me food and shelter,” he remembers.

Ramaswamy’s activism grew, along with his understanding of the public system, when he worked as PA to a minister in Rajaji’s cabinet.

What has he done?

He was imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 by the Madras High Court in October 2014 for filing a vague PIL stating “party functionaries who swear allegiance to a criminal cannot form the government.”

He had also filed a PIL to prevent Jayalalitha’s picture from appearing on bus stands and buses.

He was responsible for bringing the ban on the use of motorised fish carts in Chennai in 2002. The fish carts, also known as Thattu Vandi, are motorised carts with a flat wooden plate at the back which causes a lot of damage and injuries if it accidentally hits people. Furious with his actions, the fish sellers attacked him and damaged his property.

Ramaswamy was also abandoned by his own family when he started receiving death threats. But today, even the fishermen acknowledge his efforts and accept that the ban was important.

“What is wrong should be addressed without fearing anything. That is what I have always done.”

– Ramaswamy

Another major change that he brought to the city was by going against unauthorised constructions. He managed to get a multi-storey building which was encroaching on the street at T. Nagar demolished. He also got a one-way road where a lot of lives had been lost due to accidents, converted into two-way

The 80 year old man is still standing tall and fighting against wrong.

Most of his actions are backed by the PILs that he files.

Cathedral Road in Chennai is one of the best kept roads in the city as it has the houses of two of Tamil Nadu’s biggest political leaders on each side of the road. The entire stretch of the road used to be covered with party posters and banners. Ramaswamy filed a PIL to remove the posters and won the case too. Too scared to go against the powerful figures, the police and other officials were reluctant to remove these posters. So Ramaswamy went ahead and removed them himself.

Having spoken loudly against corruption, he has been attacked several times and today has court protection and lives alone due to several death threats given to his dear ones.

He also launched a political party, Makkal Pathukappu Kazhagam in January 2014, which is open to anyone to join. “I want to invite people to get associated with it and feel free to raise their voice against what is wrong. The party already has thousands of people engaged with it,” he says.

What keeps him going?

Having spoken loudly against corruption, he has been attacked several times and today has court protection and lives alone due to several death threats given to his dear ones.

“It is the love for my city and a dream to see it progress that keeps me going. I believe there will be a day when the entire nation will be corruption-free. But only if we all come together to fight for it.”

– Ramaswamy.

He believes that the real power lies with the people and they should use it. “I want citizens to be bold. They should not fear anything and come out in the open,” he says.

From a mill worker to a social activist, Traffic Ramaswamy’s life has been full of ups and down. But he has always stood by his decisions and raised his voice against what is wrong. Even in his twilight years, he shows strong will power and immense dedication towards a better city and, above all, a better India.

Contact Ramaswamy on his Facebook page.

Source….www.the betterindia.com

Natarajan